Name: Virgil Hilts
Comment: Plastic Factory - at the far end of Corporation Street, their entire basement floor was given to unsorted second-hand vinyl. An absolute dream for collectors like me and my buddy Chris. Got a pristine copy of Watts Stax here.
Name: Tim Williams
Comment: Yes, Plastic Factory moved from Walsall to Birmingham (just along from the law courts IIRC). I think it was run by a guy named Alan and ?? (Mark maybe, possibly Phil..?) I used to buy a lot of stuff there. Prog and psych was their speciality.
Name: Michael Snodden
Comment: Mark was the other owner. Shop floor was staffed by a number of folk, led by Derek. PF was a big deal for me: firstly when Mitch (who worked there) introduced me to a bunch of stuff that changed my life and secondly when Mitch left as I replaced him for nine happy, deeply educational months with Al and Mark (and Tina).
(2018)
Name: Ioannis Tsioumas
Comment: Yes, Alan was the guy who ran the store. The basement was full of collectors items. Does it still exist? I can't find the official website.
(2019)
Name: Paul Cleugh
Comment: Hi, the main person who owned this shop was Mark Cook-Stevenson and the co-owner was Alan, or Alun, Pearce. Alun came from Walsall. Mark had previously run his business by sending out fantastic mail order lists /booklets which had superb rarities and a small auction section. Mark had a great eye for a rarity before everyone with a record collector book was an instant expert. Golden days.
(2020)
Name: Josephina Roberts
Comment: So the guy who ran the shop's dad was probably one of the coolest teachers ever.
Name: Mark H
Comment: One of the partners at the Plastic Factory at the end of Steelhouse Lane in Birmingham in the late 1980s/early 1990s had a Black Country accent. Possible link?
(8 April 2013)
Name: Steve Porter
Comment: Once you became a bit of a regular, you’d be given a cup of tea and invited to look at the special stuff in the basement, mainly US psych and weird folk/sunshine pop, my fave shop in the 1990s.
Name: Paul Welsh
Comment: Certainly did. Emerged with the Magic Mushroom Band’s packaging masterpiece Process of Illumination.
Name: James Kennedy
Comment: Started going in 1996 - picked up some fab stuff including a 7” of King Missile’s Detachable Penis. Always liked the little notes/reviews on the records - Aphex Twin’s Girl/Boy EP came with the intriguing “He’d like some milk from the milkman's wife’s tits! You'll understand when you buy it.” I bought Spiderland based on their description, as well as loads of others - Big Star 3rd, Faust, all sorts.
Should have really bought the copy of Metal Box they had for £25 once but I had started going out on a Saturday evening and my record money was being replaced by beer tokens…
Name: Jim Smith
Comment: Either got my Faust Tapes and Autobahn from there or Swordfish, can never remember. Such a great shop.
